Earlier bad acts aired

Defense questioning reveals alcohol-related convictions of witness

Updated 9:43 pm, Friday, February 24, 2012

Attorney James Long, left, and his client William McInerney leave Rensselaer County Court following a delay in the Troy ballot fraud case on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012 in Troy, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union archive)

TROY — Former City Clerk William McInerney has more in his past than forging ballots.

Testimony at the ongoing Troy vote-rigging trial on Friday revealed the prosecution's star witness allegedly stalked his ex-wife and another woman — and sexually harassed a female co-worker with lewd comments while working in the state Assembly.

That's in addition to McInerney's three alcohol-related driving convictions.

The tidbits from McInerney's past surfaced as he was cross-examined by Brian Premo, the attorney for Democratic Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough. The commissioner and former City Councilman Michael LoPorto stand trial accused of forgery and filing false documents for their roles in entering nearly 50 fraudulent absentee ballots in the 2009 Working Families Party primary. Democrats that year hoped to secure that line, which usually went to the Republicans.

On Friday, Premo asked McInerney about his "several past arrests," to which the witness admitted, "I have some arrests."

When Premo asked him about a past accusation of stalking, McInerney testified: "An old girlfriend stated something along the lines of that."

Premo then asked McInerney if his ex-wife, to whom he was married for about a year in the 1990s, took out an order of protection after he allegedly stalked her. McInerney answered, "I believe she did."

In turn, Premo asked McInerney about being fired from the Assembly job because he accused a female co-worker of giving the boss oral sex in exchange for a promotion. When a gay male co-worker objected to his remarks, McInerney allegedly told the man he was upset because he did not give the boss oral sex. The revelation prompted a giggle from a woman on the jury.

"Do you remember the allegation of sexual harassment against you?" Premo asked.

McInerney responded: "There was an allegation. That's all I remember."

Asked about his alleged remarks, he said, "I do not remember that."

McInerney testified he was transferred to the mail room — then fired.

McInerney also confirmed, when asked, his alcohol-related arrests, which resulted in a conviction for driving while intoxicated and two convictions for driving while ability impaired by alcohol, the latest of which was in 1994.

Premo asked McInerney, at one point, if he had committed forgeries and frauds in the 1990s.

McInerney answered, "Not to the best of my recollection."

Other past conduct includes McInerney telling jurors he shredded his phone bills — and changed his cell phone number in 2009 because he "didn't know whether my phone might be tapped."

The revelations follow the testimony last week of Councilman Kevin McGrath, who admitted a 1998 felony guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The conviction never surfaced during McGrath's 2009 election campaign or his re-election in 2011. He also admitted a criminal mischief conviction and alcohol-related offenses.

In August, McInerney pleaded guilty to forgery in connection with the ballot scheme. He took the stand Thursday, testifying he oversaw outings to secure signatures on applications from Troy Housing Authority residents. He said he used former housing authority clerk Anthony DeFiglio as a point man.

He had testified that three candidates — LoPorto, Clemente Campana and John Brown — wanted the most votes to become council president. If they all won, he said, it would ensure he kept his clerk job.

On Friday, Premo asked McInerney if he had planned to "take everyone down if you went down." McInerney said he could not remember.

"I never told anyone I was forging anything," McInerney testified. "I didn't want to be blackmailed."

McInerney testified he "felt the pressure" that he would not be reappointed if he did not forge the ballots.

When LoPorto attorney Michael Feit asked McInerney if anyone forced him to alter dates on forms, McInerney said it was "understood," adding, "A lot of things in this were done with winks and nods."